Oathbreaker
by Rurikredwolf
Summary: Promises are meant to be kept. For Sora, he broke his most important vow, and is now paying the price for it. The worlds are almost overrun with the Heartless, and hope is all but lost, consumed by the shadowy horde at his doorstep.
1. Chapter 1

**Well…um…never thought I'd be here again. Writing fanfiction that is. Something other than dragons as well. Gotta say, it is kinda weird not writing about dragons, but hey…I need practice other things. This story I had fun to write, but not my best. I know what I wanna do with it, but I was kinda stuck on how to start it. This is mostly a reliever story and to practice on pacing and a bit of description. That said…**

**This story comes second to my original work. If I don't update for a while, check my deviantart on the website button. I may be updating stories there. So yeah, don't whine if I don't update. Fanfiction is secondary work and if I don't have any ideas for my own stories.**

**Anyway, this is kind of how I pictured the end of Kingdom Hearts 3 to go…with a little twist at the end. Let's dive into the heart of this thing and see what comes out.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. This is a non-profit story that I just made up on the spot for the reader's enjoyment. **

Sora dove down and landed on a white diamond platform that seemed out of place in the middle of the swarming darkness surrounding him. Clutched in his hands was a weapon that many had sought, but only a few could wield. This weapon was known as the Keyblade, which could open any lock or door. The blade took on many forms and it had different abilities depending on who used it or what chain they used.

For Sora, it was a silvery white Keyblade with a small star on top near the tip. Although the blade itself was not sharp, something that worked with most Keyblades except for a select few, it was the only way he and his allies could finally defeat the Heartless, which were living shadows that took form after someone's heart was taken.

_Funny how something that could be summed up in a sentence could be so frightening and strong._ Sora thought to himself as he continued to fall, wind pushing his spikey brown hair back to the point where it looked like it had turned into a mullet. Sora cracked a smile at this; mullet was such a funny word.

His clothes were primarily red with black as the secondary color. Sora wore bright white shoes that seemed far too large for him, but was actually nice and comfortable to wear. Running around and defeating the Heartless did require shoes that wouldn't try and kill his feet after an hour. Sora's red jacket threatened to come off from the speed he was traveling at and the black hood flapped behind him like a tiny cape.

Landing on the platform, Sora swung his Keyblade, which was called 'Oathkeeper', and delivered a mighty blow to a Heartless that started to form. The Heartless was flung backwards and slammed into a Large Body Heartless that was barreling straight at him before exploding into purple smoke. The Large Body was stunned, granting Sora enough time to leap into the air and bring his weapon crashing down on its head.

Fighting the Heartless did get dull after a while, and the fact that this was all they had for their last stand was sort of pathetic. He was hoping for a large Heartless so he would feel satisfied in defeating, but he supposed that this wouldn't exhaust him too much for the battle against Xehanort, the mastermind behind all of this fighting and suffering. Sora clenched his left hand into a fist; beating him would end this and he could finally be at peace.

In his thoughts, he didn't notice that a Wyvern Heartless was about to smash into him and knock him off the platform. Seeing how he couldn't react in time, Sora made a desperate swing to defeat it before it would knock him off. He was a second too slow, and it seemed that he would be hit.

However, just before he could, a shield with a giant pair of mouse ears slammed into the spine of the attacker, making it vanish into the familiar mist. Sora looked up into the sky and a wide grin formed on his face.

"Ya shouldn't run ahead like that Sora!" A dog shouted before landing face down onto the platform. Sora chuckled at this.

Although he was a dog, this new figure walked on two legs and wore blue plated armor and orange clothing underneath. His face reminded Sora of a bloodhound; especially the ears. It took Sora quite some time to get used to this cartoonish fellow, and once he did, he was glad he met him.

"Still haven't learned how to land on your feet, Goofy?" Sora jested, hitting a Heartless that was trying to sneak up behind him without even turning.

"I woulda if I wasn't savin' ya!" a warm smile formed on Goofy's face.

Seconds later, lightning shot down and zapped all of the Heartless that were forming. Looking up the sky, a white feathered duck wearing a blue sailor's cap and shirt came down, gripping a stick in his right hand. The stick glowed with magical energy and the duck shot a large fireball at the Heartless, shouting something that Sora had a hard time identifying. He would dwell on this later; for now, he had Heartless to defeat.

"About time you showed up Donald!" Sora shouted over the spells that the newcomer was shouting.

"Trying to clean up your mess in your reckless charge!" Donald shot back playfully. Donald had a weird voice that took Sora ages to finally comprehend, but like a moment ago, things still eluded him. It reminded Sora of air being let out of a small area.

"Glad ta see that you're usin' that wand Merlin gave ya!" Goofy said to Donald, deflecting an attack that a small red Heartless floating in the air made at him. It bounced back and eliminated it.

"Yeah, I thought you hated it!" Sora teased, holding his Keyblade forward and launching a large ball of ice at the Heartless that splintered into thousands of ice shards, taking out five of his foes.

"I never hated it!" Donald shot back. "I simply didn't want to use it!"

"Uh huh." Sora and Goofy said in unison, much to the annoyance of Donald.

For a while they fought what seemed like an endless stream of Heartless that made Sora retract what he had thought about this final stand. Although he would have taken a large one over thousands of miniature ones that he had fought many, many times, this was at least starting to become enjoyable. The only irritating part about this fighting was that everytime Sora struck one down, two more would seep from the shadows to replace it.

Eventually the trio was backed into a corner, and no matter what they did, they could not escape from it. Not even launching multiple spells from Sora and Donald could drive them back. Things were looking grim once again, but Sora never gave up hope. For every Heartless he destroyed, that was one who could not plague the worlds again. Whenever he grew exhausted, he looked at his Keyblade and remembered all of the promises he made to his friends and gained strength to fight again.

"Where are they?" Donald complained after a bit, casting a cure spell on Goofy, who had taken a rather nasty hit upside the head. Although Goofy had been struck there multiple times before, it was better to be on the safe side.

"They'll be here soon." Goofy reassured. "We just have ta hold this for a couple more minutes!"

"Yeah, we've overcome more obstacles than this!" Sora panted. Although he didn't want to admit it, he was getting tired. "What's a few Heartless to us?"

"A few?" Donald shrieked as a gargoyle one nearly decapitated him with it's shadowy axe.

"Okay…maybe a lot." Sora corrected himself. "Still, we can do this!"

Not a second after he said that did something land in the middle of the Keyblades before a figure landed on it, creating a shockwave that knocked most of the Heartless back, giving them a chance to breath. Another figure landed beside him, taking a defensive stance against the regrowing horde.

"Riku! Kairi!" Sora shouted with glee, making his way to them.

"Miss us?" Riku gave a heartwarming smirk. Riku was a boy a bit older and taller than Sora with short, flat silvery-purple hair that Sora once thought was a bit odd. That was, of course, until he changed into a lion. Purple hair wasn't exactly strange to him anymore after that experience.

Riku's outfit was a yellow shirt with a black harness around it and blue pants, contradicting Sora's shorts. Sora was also quick to notice that he wasn't wearing as many straps anymore, and it made him feel a bit sad. Riku was the only one besides him that wore multiple belts. Did he not think it was cool anymore? Maybe Sora should rethink his style after this.

"You bet!" Sora exclaimed.

"Speak for yourself." Donald muttered. Everyone ignored him.

"We'll have time to chat later!" the other figure, a young woman with long red hair in brown leather armor shouted. Sora was still having a hard time accepting this over the pink she always wore, but she supposed that Riku, in his training, had told her that it wasn't exactly battle worthy. She was a lot thinner than the two males, and wielded a reddish-brown Keyblade with engraved flowers near the tip. Turnign around, she cast a Cure spell on Sora, who had just taken a hit from a Large Body.

"Thanks Kairi!" Sora exclaimed as Riku rushed past him, a rather unique Keyblade in his hand. It was blue and red and reminded Sora of a bat's wing, but a little angle wing near the tip seemed to dispel the scariness it may have held. This was also one of the Keyblades that was sharp, slicing apart the Heartless with ease.

Reinvigorated, Sora leapt back to Donald and Goofy, who looked like they were struggling. Slamming his weapon into the ground, rays of lights shot out and pierced the Heartless through the check, destroying or knocking them back. A circle of light now shone brightly in the middle of the platform, but Sora felt his strength drain with that. He'd better now use that again unless he desperately needed to.

Working his way back to Riku and Kairi, Sora suffered deep cut from one of the smaller Heartless that had leaped at him from the shadows. Blood seeped down his shirt and onto the platform a bit, staining it crimson. It was a sharp pain too, as if something was working his way through the wound and into his system. Paying it little mind, Sora dispatched the one who did this with a spinning attack from his Keyblade, vanquishing any foes nearby.

A loud yell from above made Sora gaze up in shock before a tall man slammed a greenish-brown Keyblade into the ground. Shards of black earth rocketed in all directions and a dark aura shrouded the Keyblade wielder, but instead of worrying, Sora almost leapt with joy. Two seconds later, three other figures dropped down.

"Sorry it took so long fellas!" A short bipedal mouse wielding a golden Keyblade with a silver handle applogized. "Had to repair the portal before we could arrive."

"King Mickey!" Donald and Goofy shouted out. They looked like they would have kneeled if they were in a calmer condition.

"The time for formalities will have to wait!" the mouse narrowed his eyes. "We're at the final stretch, and we gotta end this once and for all!"

"Agreed." The figure who slammed down first agreed. He had long brown hair that was curled backwards, making the back of his head look like a porcupine's spikes. At least, that's what it looked like to Sora. He wore armor that matched the color of his Keyblade with black spots on it and a billowing white cape.

"We're not gonna let them win! Not after we came this far! Right Terra? Aqua?" A scrawny armored boy said to the beige armored man and a female in blue-grey armor with short blue hair that reminded Sora of the ocean. He was wearing dark grey armor and a similar cape. He had spikey yellow hair and endless amounts of optimism in his face and blue eyes. His fighting style was unique; his short Keyblade held behind him with the blade going towards his head, and attacking his foes with light, yet swift, attacks mixed in with a small tornado every now and then.

"Of course we're not gonna lose!" the woman, Aqua, smiled as she shot a vararity of spells melded together with nimble strikes from her storm colored Keyblade. "We beat him before, we can beat him again." Terra looked away at this comment, smashing the Heartless with slow yet powerful attacks that took out multiple enemies at a time.

"Everyone, come together and unite our Keyblades!" Mickey announced. "That should be enough to dispel the darkness around us!"

Sora cleaved his way through his foes, the wound on his side still hurting despite being cured. Hopefully it wouldn't bother him too much in the final battle. Donald and Goofy were in tow, beating back the Heartless that Sora couldn't fight. It was at times like this that Sora was greatful that the Heartless didn't bleed. Blood unnerved him and the thought of the ground being slick in the vile fluids of his enemies and being covered in it sent shivers down his spine.

They all met in the circle of light that Sora had made earlier, and the Heartless seemed almost afraid to enter. That one second of hesitation bought them enough time to unite the tips of their Keyblades together and sent light shining in all directions. The darkness around them seemed to vanish and the Heartless were burned away in a matter of seconds as a blinding flash erupted from their unification.

When the light died down, all of the Heartless had vanished and a massive, black door replaced them. It had the symbol of the Heartless, a black heart with red lining with a split running through the middle, and seemed very forbidding. Sora gaped at the sight of it; The one that Xemnas, Xehanort's nobody, which were the bodies of those taken by the Heartless, had was nothing compared to the size of this one.

"What is with these big shots and doors?" Donald grumbled.

"What is with you and complaining?" Kairi shot a smug look at him, amusement in her blue eyes. Donald glared at her.

"All of our adventures are about doors and keys…" Riku mused, crossing his arms, green eyes narrowing. "They should learn not to use doors, but I suppose they have to have one fatal flaw somewhere."

"Yeah, don't they see that we have Keyblades?" Ventus, the scrawny one from earlier, held his at the door.

"Anyone else think that this may be his plan?" Terra asked morbidly. "Like he wanted us to come here and unlock the door?"

"Well gosh, I didn't think of that." Mickey scratched his head. "Not like we have a choice though. We need to stop him before he unleashes the Prime Darkness."

"Mickey is right." Aqua agreed. "Whatever traps lay ahead, we can overcome them. We have seven Keyblade bearers plus Donald and Goofy. He'd be hard pressed to deal with us all at once."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Sora said with optimism, pointing his Keyblade at the door along with Ventus. "Lets finish this and go home. I wanna try that drink again."

"Ya mean that Cherry, Banana, and orange shake?" Goofy asked.

"Yeah that!" Sora exclaimed as the rest pointed their Keyblades at the door. Once all of them did that, a silverly light burst from the tips, striking the door and creating another blinding light. Once it faded, a faint sound of something unlocking could be heard, and everyone placed their Keyblade's down.

"Wait a second…" Goofy said, stopping Sora's advance. "Where's Lea?"

"He's keeping the Heartless at bay from the portal so they don't escape." Riku explained. "He told us to go on without him and that he'd catch up."

"Alrighty then." Sora beamed as he approached the door, placing his gloved hands on the cold obsidian handles. "Let's do this!"

_3 years later_

Sora stood in a small white room, staring at the shattered remains of his Oathkeeper that was hanging on the far wall. Only the handle and a few inches of blade remained, ending in jagged tips stained with a familiar red substance. Sora didn't believe that Keyblades would be broken, but here he was, three years later, the shock still settling in on him.

His blue eyes looked left of the weapon, where Riku's Keyblade hung next to Sora's. It was cracked along the blade and the angel wings on it were ripped off, creating ball in Sora's gut that tightened every second he looked at it. On Sora's right, Kairi's Keyblade was also against the wall. There were nothing physicically wrong with it, but one look at it felt like something had gripped at his heart like a vice.

The three years since they fought against Xehanort were hard on Sora, but he pressed on like every other time he had suffered defeat. He had grown to about 5'11 and gained some muscle, and his hair was now flat and short with some of his natural spike remaining. His attaire had changed too. He wore a black overcoat with two yellow circles on the shoulders and small tendrils that looked like a Heartless's antennae grew from the edges. His shoes were a lot smaller and also purple, matching his pants. Sora's gloves were yellow with black stripes, and were a lot thicker than when he wore them in the past.

His shirt was the only thing not dark in color; in fact, it was almost a blinding white color, going well with the silver chocker around his neck. Sora reached down and pressed a hand to his chest above his heart and squeezed hard, trying to calm himself down from the memories that were resurfacing.

"Riku…Kairi…I'll find you. Just hang on…wherever you are." Sora whispered, unable to look at his Keyblade.

"Nice to see you haven't given up hope just yet." A voice said from behind, causing Sora to turn around and face Terra.

Terra hadn't changed much since the battle. His hair was the same, and his casual clothes still consisted of a purple shirt with beige pants. Heck, even the bronze armor covering his left arm didn't fade. The one big thing that did change, however, was the long scar across his eye.

"I can't give up hope." Sora said with a painfully forced smile. "If I was lost in darkness and they were here, I know they would be looking for me as well."

"Of course they would." Terra placed a hand on Sora's shoulder. "We'll find them. Mickey got some new allies that could help us in our quest and drive the Heartless back."

Sora blinked in surprise. New allies? He hadn't heard that phrase in ages. "Who'd he find?" Sora asked, a grin forming on his face.

Terra chuckled. "Well, that's what we both are going to find out soon. We're being summoned to greet them, and maybe even get out of Travese Town to take the fight to the frontlines."

"Really?" Sora exclaimed, stepping outside to behold the wonders of Travese Town.

Travese Town didn't change that much either; It was always in a state of eternal night, but Sora never really minded. The stars shone beautifully and every time he was feeling down, he'd look up at the sky and see that worlds still existed out there, their light acting as a beacon of hope. Sora wished that the Gummi Ship was repaired so he could venture off and free the worlds, but maybe it would be finished after the meeting.

The town itself was bustling with activity from those who survived the destruction of their world. Although it was relatively grim to know where they came from, they were all unified in their resolve to see that Heartless wiped out once and for all. Sora looked down from where he was at the fountain, reminding him that he was in the second district. There, a priest spoke to a large crowd to grant them courage to survive another day. The sight of the priest did made Sora's side twinge a bit and he clutched it out of reflex.

"It still hurts after all this time?" Terra leaned over a balcony, eyes focused on the crowd.

Sora also leaned over the balcony and looked down at the water below. "Yeah, but I got used to it after a while. It comes and goes randomly, but a little pain isn't gonna stop me!"

"Always good to hear." Terra cracked grin. "How's the management of your darkness doing?"

"Well…" Sora placed a hand under his chin, face contorted in thought. "I think I'm doing okay. I haven't had any incidents in the past few months, and the little bursts I do get vanish within seconds. I think with a few more sessions, I'll finally have a lid on it."

"Excellent." Terra stood up and stretched. "I'll have to see it for myself after the meeting…which starts in three minutes." Terra turned pale as he looked at the clock tower in the distance. "Come on, we're going to be late!"

"Why did we stall here then?" Sora shouted after him, running after him, the pain on his side vanishing. For the first time in three years, Sora felt like he could take on the entire universe and not break a sweat.

Of course, this feeling was replaced by panic as he had forgotten to shut off the lights and close the door to his home. Rushing back, he quickly turned off all the electronics and went to shut the door. However, before he did, he took one last look at Riku and Kairi's Keyblade's, holding the door open, reflecting back at the happier times the three shared together.

"I'll be with you soon." He whispered as he shut the door before trying to catch up to Terra.

**P.S. I am dyslexic so sorry for grammar mistakes**


	2. Patrolling Traverse Town

**Whelp, I went ahead of schedule on this one. I sat down and wrote all day, no stopping. All 5569 of them. Plus more if you count deleting and rewriting. *collapses*. **

**This chapter was a lot of fun as well. Seemed rather boring at first, but I just couldn't stop. Ah well, we all have boring, relaxing chapters, don't we? More to come soon. The story is just beginning.**

**Also a new enemy is introduced in this chapter. I mean, why not? Every KH game does it, so figured this one would be the logical next step. And no, I have not play Dream Drop Distance yet, so sorry for any continuity errors or whatever. Same with the characters in this; I tried my very best with them.**

**Kingdom Hearts is not mine, it belongs to that one company who should probably give up final fantasy at this point..**.

King Mickey tapped his hands on the table, eying the watch on his wrist. Terra said he'd bring Sora along about ten minutes ago, and here they were, a minute before the meeting...likely going going to be late. Again. If they were, Mickey highly considered forcing Sora to relocate so he could live closer to the hideout. As for Terra, he'd let it slide.

The mouse sighed before looking around the room he was in, seeing how empty it was. The possible new allies were in the other room, getting to know each other. It was for the best, really, as they could get to know each other and be more comfortable talking about business. Refocusing on the room, Mickey found it a bit bland, with just a large wooden table with regular, yet comfy, chairs. He himself didn't even bother getting a different chair. He had to show that he was on the same level on them, despite being a leader.

On the subject of how barren this room was, Mickey found it really, really hard to fight off the memories of three years ago. Glancing at the background of his watch, he saw a group picture that they had taken before the final battle against Xehanort. There, he could see Sora with his arms around Goofy and Donald, a goofy and cheerful grin on his face. Riku stood beside him with his face buried in his palm, while Kairi laughed at Donald's disgruntled face. Mickey himself was near Minnie, the former wearing a small knight's suit. Mickey felt a tear slide down his furred face when he saw Minnie's face before his expression contorted into one of determination.

The sounds of shoes slapping against the pavement could be heard before Sora burst opened the door, sweating bullets, as if he had run a hundred miles. Mickey looked at his watch; twenty seconds to spare. He was impressed and then sad that he was impressed that Sora had been only twenty seconds early.

"DID I MAKE IT?" Sora shouted at the top of his lungs, nearly deafening the mouse.

"Twenty seconds to spare; a new record." Mickey said with exasperation, but his warm smile showed that he was not angry.

"Oh good, I thought I was late." Sora sat down on the chair, smacking his head loudly onto the hardwood table. The thunk that filled the air made all noises silent for a moment. Even the allies stopped talking for a bit.

Terra popped in a moment later, an amused look on his face. "I warned you not to run so fast." He chuckled.

"Well, he made it before you, Terra." Mickey responded as he hopped off of his chair. Sora poked open an eye to find that the short mouse was walking over to an unseen door on the opposite side of the room. Sora could barely focus on that, too busy trying to recover his energy and keep calm in front of the newcomers.

"Yes, but no one is here but us." Terra looked around as Mickey merely chuckled before opening the door.

"Oh, it's starting already?" A voice asked from the other side of the door. Sora perked up his head as, to his surprise, a bipedal fox in a green ranger's outfit poked his muzzle through the door. Sora nearly flipped the table in shock, but then remembered that he himself was a lion once, and he should be used to these sights.

"Yup, come on in fellas!" Mickey called enthusiastically as he walked back to where he was sitting before.

"Are you sure we are safe from those things here?" A man in a white and green spacesuit asked. For some reason, he still had the helmet on, and blue eyes darted around as if expecting something to burst through the wall.

"Well, to be fair, no where is safe." Terra quipped, leaning against the wall behind Sora. He eyed all of them with suspicion. Sora, however, was too mystified by the space man. He looked like one of the toys he used to play with when he was little! It was so cool!

The spaceman seemed to notice Sora's goggling and sat down far away from him, looking a bit disturbed. Sora was half tempted to follow him, but then the fox sat down near Sora and he found himself fascinated by him. He eyed Sora's necklace with a greedy look before trying to disguise it by directing his green eyes around the room.

Mickey looked a bit disappointed that only two had shown up, but then cleared his throat and shouted a name that Sora had not heard in years.

"JACK, GET IN HERE!" He shouted with an uncharacteristic amount of authority and impatience. It nearly made Sora fall off his chair.

Slinking into a room was another man, wearing a red turban, a dirty blue and white shirt with a disheveled black-brown overcoat thrown on top over it, and dark blue pants that were torn around the knee areas. He had a cutlass looped through his belt, and he eyed the room intently before falling on Sora.

"Ah...Sora." The pirate skittered around the astronaut and found himself sitting next to the Keyblade wielder. "I had a feeling you weren't of my world."

"What gave you that idea?" Sora asked with a wide grin.

Jack pushed one of his dreadlocks out of the way before pulling out a hidden flask. A few drops of alcohol dribbled down his black beard. He screwed the cap back on it and ignored a look from Mickey and the astronaut before replying to Sora.

"Well, the fact that you were walking around with a talking dog and duck was a big clue." Jack said before putting his boots on the table. "Honestly thought I hit the rum too early when I first saw you."

"Jack, I'm going to have to ask you to refrain from drinking during the meeting." Mickey told him. Jack quickly stashed the rum, muttering about how he had to be hallucinating.

"Is this all?" Terra asked after no one arrived after a moment.

"No...there should be at least one more." Mickey frowned before looking into the other room again. "Huh...knew they didn't arrive yet, but figured they would by now." He turned back to the others. "Ah well, may as well get started. We can fill in the rest later."

All of them nodded and Mickey settled back down. "Now, there is another one coming, but he needs to make some repairs on the shuttle before he comes. I'd give him five minutes." He said as he waved his hands, revealing a stack of documents.

"Yeah, I think I hit the rum early again." Jack looked ready to take another swig. Sora stifled a chuckle.

"I'll join you on that one." The fox blinked a few times at the display Mickey put on.

"Anyway, I think we should state our names just in case we forgot." Mickey said cheerfully, indicating to Terra.

"Terra." Was all he said, looking apprehensive for some odd reason. Sora raised an eyebrow at it; shouldn't he be used to these kind of people by now.

"My name is Sora!" Sora decided to go next, waving to everyone else.

"Hi Sora..." Jack and the fox said at the same time, in a mock monotone voice. Sora didn't quite get why they did that, but it was kind of funny.

"Captain Jack Sparrow, owner of the finest ship on the seven seas, The Black Pearl." Jack stated proudly. Sora remembered his ship and how protective Jack was of it. Must have cost Mickey an arm and a leg to get him here without it.

The fox went next. "Robin Hood." He introduced himself in a similar manner to Sora. "You won't find a better archer or a more honest thief than I."

"In my line of work, no thief is ever good, Robin." The spaceman commented sourly before standing up and bowing respectively to Mickey. "Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear of the Intergalactic Alliance at your service, King Mickey.

"A king, huh?" Robin rubbed his chin and eyed him with the same look he gave Sora's necklace.

"Try not to get any ideas, fox." Buzz turned to him, his bulky armor looking quite imposing for a moment.

"Now who says I was getting any?" Robin whistled innocently.

Mickey cleared his throat, stopping the soon-to-be argument. Buzz and Robin looked at each other before returning their attention back to the mouse. Sora could still see them casting glares at each other. He had a bad feeling that this meeting would not go as planned.

"Anyway, I took the liberty of making these to explain a bit of what is going on as well as filling in some background information." Mickey floated them over to everyone present, including Sora and Terra.

Sora took a lazy look at them, having already known what the majority of what this was going to say. Still, to sate his curiosity and confirm his train of thought, Sora flipped through the papers. Sure enough, there were the different kinds of Heartless listed as well as their strengths and weaknesses. Then, it surprisingly went to Nobodies and how they were born. A grainy picture of Organization Thirteen could be seen as well. The very thought of them made Sora grip the table to the point where he was threatening to break it.

It wasn't until the last part that he got to new information. It showed a regular human, but it had purple veins all over the face, hallow yellow eyes, and black hair. The skin was very pale, almost ghost-like. In his hands, pure darkness formed into spheres and were launching in all directions. Sora actually managed to bend the part of the table he was gripping, causing Jack to nearly fall back in his chair.

"Sora, control yourself." Terra's voice cut through his growing anger like a Keyblade would a Heartless.

"Sorry..." Sora mumbled, his rage subsiding.

Mickey shot him a concerned look before addressing everyone else. "Some of you," he turned to Jack, "have seen the Heartless and Nobodies. I think that is why your world survived, Jack; you had the experience to combat them."

"Aye." Jack nodded. "Just hope that Davy Jones didn't seek their aid yet. He's already got that Kracken; hate to see him turn that thing into a Heartless..."

"A what now?" Sora gave him a weird look.

"Giant squid...octopus...thing." Jack said vaguely. "Wraps it's blasted tentacles around a ship and drags them to the ocean floor."

Sora paled at Jack's explanation. Yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was going to fight it. Sure he cut across buildings when fighting Xehanort's Nobody, but a giant squid? No...that was a bit too bizarre, and he'd seen the World That Never Was! Shivering a bit, he almost didn't hear Buzz say something.

"So wait, they take hearts?" he sounded disturbed by what he read. "To top that off, only this...'Keyblade' can take them out? Does that mean that we haven't even made a dent in their army?"

Mickey looked downcast. "Unfortunately so, Buzz." he confirmed. Buzz looked completely flabbergasted and lost for a moment. Then, Mickey grinned. "Don't worry, though; this is why we summoned you here!"

"Meaning you have a Keyblade for us?" Robin sounded hopeful. Mickey shook his head, but held up a hand when Robin was about to react in the same way that Buzz was.

"Sora, Terra, and myself have them." he held out his hand, and within a matter of seconds, what looked like a massive golden key appeared. The key was mounted to a silver handle, and had a chain with mouse ears resembling Mickey's at the end. Robin sat straighter in his chair while Buzz eyed it with interest. Jack was the only non-Keyblade bearer who didn't react too much.

"How does one obtain a Keyblade?" Robin's eyes never left the blade.

"You don't get one." Terra said shortly. "The blade comes to you. You have to be pure of heart and be named the next bearer."

"So...anyone could technically get one if they had those qualities?" Jack raised an eyebrow at Terra.

"More or less." Terra confirmed.

"It is possible that all three of you could get a Keyblade, but we haven't the time to figure it out." Mickey cut off all further questions. "The reason why I summoned you here was so that way we can learn the situations of your worlds and help turn the tide."

"Three of you...three different worlds...I think I get it." Robin nodded in understanding.

"Actually no." Mickey once again let them down. It looked like it physically pained him to say these things. "I have to stay here; if the Heartless were to attack this place when we were all out, it would be undefended."

"Terra and I can take care of them, though!" Sora offered a wide smile. "I've fought a thousand Heartless by myself!"

"Very admirable." Buzz nodded in approval. "Had I seen it myself, I would have made you a space ranger in a heartbeat." He looked at his wrist, flipping open part of his armor. "I just hope you can do it again."

"So...er...I'm not quite used to this kind of Heartless..." Jack looked at the the pale man in the documents.

"They're new." Mickey explained. "We have dubbed them 'The Possessed'. It seems Xehanort, the one who created the Heartless, perfected his Prime Darkness. They are those who have been consumed by the darkness, but had a strong enough heart not to become a Heartless or a Nobody. They are very formidable, and a single one can take out a small squad with ease."

"Perfect..." Robin muttered.

"Well, the upside is that there aren't a lot of them so far." Sora jumped in, giving Mickey a break. "I've only run into ten these last three years."

"Hmm...I'm going to have to run some tests when I get back to my Starship..." Buzz frowned, entering in the data about the Possessed into his armor. "Can they blend in with normal humans or species yet?"

"Not that we've seen." Terra answered him.

"Right...well, I'd better tell my crew to keep an eye out for them..." Jack said uncomfortably.

"Buzz, how is your world fairing so far?" Mickey asked after a moment of silence. "We need to know this so we can prioritize...no offense to the others." He added quickly.

"We are recovering from a massive attack made by Emperor Zurg." Buzz reported dutifully. "We suffered heavy casualties, but managed to repel the attack. I doubt we can survive a second attack. Should you visit our world, I suggest you come find me in the Gamma Quadrant of Sector Four."

"I'll make a map..." Sora replied with a nervous laugh. He had no idea that space had sectors.

"It isn't too terribly bad where I am from." Robin answered honestly. "I've seen the Heartless, but they were in small groups or just acting solo."

"It was kind of like that for a while," Jack said in reference to what Robin had said. "For the past few ports, though, they have been up and about. Figured it was a matter of time before Sora and the other two showed up." He frowned. "Where are they, anyway?"

Sora didn't reply, instead looking incredibly sad and distant. Jack seemed to pick up on this and nodded, going silent. Mickey once again cleared his throat.

"Well, I'm sure you all know how to delay the Heartless..." Mickey said with hints of awkwardness, glancing at the distraught-looking Sora. Before he could continue, though, someone else burst down the door.

"Heya!" A tall, lanky, and frail looking figure said. His fiery red hair completely went against the colors of the room, like a fire in the darkness. He limped into the room with a burning orange-white colored cane, green eyes examining everyone in the room. He seemed to look at Robin was a hint of disbelief, but shook himself to overcome it.

"Lea!" Sora said with excitement, snapping out of his depressive state. Something inside of him stirred. It felt like another presence, and while it certainly felt dark, it wasn't malefic.

"Hey Sora!" he greeted back cheerfully, reaching into his black coat and pulling out a few schematics. Sora recognized them to be that of the Gummi Ship. "Made the repairs you wanted, and took a few creative liberties." He said to Mickey, who looked them over with interest.

"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said you'd take up engineering." Terra formed a small smile.

"Considering I am useless in combat, figured it was the least I can do." Lea indicated to the cane. "Miss the action, but this is actually kinda interesting once you get used to it."

"'Fiery Redemption'?" Mickey said with humor, indicating to a turret on the side of the ship. It was the most Sora could see at the moment. "Shoulda expected this."

"What, you don't approve?" Lea looked almost offended by Mickey's remark.

"No, it's not that." Mickey simply chuckled before turning back to Sora. "Well, it's about time for your patrol." Mickey said to him and Terra. "We'll keep you posted as to which world you will be heading to first. I still need to talk to the others about what they're up against, and since you already know..."

"Alright!" Sora jumped out of his chair and cracked his back. It felt so good to do that. Waving goodbye to everyone, he walked out, followed shortly by Terra. Lea shut the door behind them, wishing them good luck.

"So what do you think of them?" Terra asked after they had walked a bit away.

"Well, I've fought alongside Jack, so I know he's good." Sora placed his hand under his chin. "Buzz seems to have experience too. I think Robin Hood will be able to hold his own with some knowledge and exposure."

"Are we sure we can trust Jack and Robin, though?" Terra looked a bit suspicious of the two outlaws.

"Well, we can't exactly be picky at this time..." Sora leaned against a building. "I'm sure they won't do anything once in battle."

"No, I suppose not." Terra said quietly before stretching his limbs. "I suppose we should do our rounds and then discuss the fact that you nearly broke the table."

Sora froze. "Erp..." was all he could squeak out.

"Are you sure you are keeping a tight lid on it?" Terra folded his arms and his eyes bore into Sora like a drill.

"I just slipped was all..." Sora said weakly. Terra didn't seem to buy it but didn't press any further. Turning to the right, he walked off, keeping a vigilant look out for anything out of the ordinary. Sora watched him go for a bit before walking in the opposite direction.

Sora found himself in the trade district after a moment. The brown-red bricks made him remember of the first time he was here and how lost he was. Glancing at the shop on top of the stairs that read 'SUPPLIES!', he remembered how he first met Cid. The memory of the gruff yet compassionate man drew a smile to his face. Right outside the door was when Leon, another valuable friend and ally, had ambushed him and tried to crack his skull open, but Sora had shown him a thing or two...and then immediately collapsed from exhaustion.

Walking up the steps after finding nothing interesting in the diner or anywhere else, Sora glanced down the alley to his right. It was completely dilapidated and had a 'do not enter' sign on it, but Sora often found himself sneaking in there for nostalgic value. There, he had first arrived and started his own adventure. That and nearly freaking out at the sight of Pluto, King Mickey's pet dog. He really needed to go play ball with the yellow, friendly, and bizarre looking dog again.

Continuing his trek, Sora looked at the old Moogle shop. He was half tempted to poke his head in, but he knew that he had nothing to synthesize and they were often quite busy. However, it was his job, so he had to do it regardless. He had forgotten all about the shop, so he may as well climb down the latter into the shop just in case.

Opening the door quietly, he saw that the Moogles were hard at work. They were short, light brown creatures with a large, red nose. Their eyes were usually closed, but for some odd reason, they could still see. Sora had no doubts that they had heard him come in. In fact, they turned to look at him, one nearly dropping a stack of power crystals.

"Hey Kupo!" One of the Moogles greeted. They sounded like a punch of cute, playful squeaks, but Sora's brain registered them as if they were speaking his language flawlessly.

"Hi!" Sora returned the greeting. "Sorry to bug ya, but just gotta check for Heartless and the like."

"It's no big deal." The one carrying the crystals responded. "Just try not to touch too many things." he requested politely.

Sora nodded and poked his head through the open boxes and under tables before checking out what Moogles were working on from a safe distance. They looked like they were working on bracelets and chains, of all things. When Sora had first saw them making that, he doubted they would have went anywhere in business. To his great surprise, he found that they acted much like armor, shielding him from attacks. Sora looked down at the Orichalcum chain hidden underneath his overcoat and looped around a belt. It had been custom built for him, and without it, he would have been quite injured in the past.

Finding nothing, he bid the Moogles farewell and climbed the stairs down to the general shop. It was very green and white, and it looked like it had been cleaned in the past five minutes. Behind a wooden desk was a very haggard looking man, who looked up to see Sora coming down. Behind the man, various potions in star-decorated bottles could be seen. Small, blue glowing cubes could be seen as well. A chandelier hung lowly and nearly struck Sora on the head when he moved under it. His new height was something he was still getting used to.

"Sora, what can I do for you?" The man asked with enthusiasm, thinly disguising the exhaustion in his voice.

"Just on patrol again, Steve." Sora flashed a quick smile as he checked every nook and cranny.

"We really need to assemble the Guard again..." Steve commented after Sora had completed his search.

"Yeah..." Sora agreed entirely. "Hopefully they come back from Hollow Bastion soon."

"I don't suppose you've heard anything from over there, have you?"

Sora shook his head. "No. Last I heard was that they had secured the city, but still had to deal with the roaming Heartless. This was a month ago, though..." Sora was starting to get a little bit worried.

"Maybe I'll put together a Watch..." Steve ran his hands through his blond hair. "Well, I won't keep ya. Stay safe!"

"You too!" Sora waved goodbye and walked out the door.

Continuing from where he left off, Sora worked his way into the Magic district. It had a different name, but he couldn't remember it for the life of him. The only reason why he called it that was it was where Merlin used to live before being shipped back to Hollow Bastion. A sad smile formed when he remembered his lessons with the old wizard. He really missed those days.

Staring up into the night sky again, he was glad to see that no star had been blackened. At least, none that he could tell. Flickering lights from a club brought his attention back to this world, and he went inside. Calming music, of all things, was being played. It was surprisingly empty except for a few janitors, but they paid Sora no mind as he ventured through the place. It was also at that time that he decided he should probably use the restroom.

–

A few moments later, Sora stood inside the dingily lit bathroom, washing his hands. The place wasn't filthy, thankfully, but he couldn't help but feel like someone was in here with him. He had looked and found nothing, but the feeling remained still. It was starting to make him feel a bit nervous. Once his hands were clean, he washed water onto his face. After drying them, he stared into the mirror and nearly leaped backwards in shock.

There, staring right back at him, was a pale, young man about his age. Purple veins could be seen starting to grow around his face, and his eyes were starting to tint yellow. His blonde hair was spiky, and he wore a similar outfit to Sora; only silvery-white instead of black. A look of pain was on his face, and he appeared quite desperate.

"Roxas..." Sora blinked in surprise. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry." Roxas apologized. It sounded a bit strained. "I figured this was the best time to contact you."

"Well, I do have to get back on patrol..." Sora chuckled to calm himself down. "Anyway, what's up?"

"I think you can tell just by looking at me." Roxas indicated to the darkness seeping up his body. "I can only absorb so much. You need to help me get rid of it when you're finished."

Sora bit his lip. "Is it really spreading that much?" he asked meekly.

"Unfortunately so, Sora." Roxas nodded in confirmation. "I can hold out until you finish, but after that, I'm pulling you in here with me. We need to drive back our darkness."

"Alright, will do." Sora agreed. "Just wait until I get back to the home."

"Hurry, then." Roxas urged.

Sora was already out the door before Roxas had finished. If Roxas had actually come to him, especially in mid patrol, something really bad must be happening inside of Sora's body. Roxas was his Nobody, and the two had melded together a few years ago after Roxas had found Sora's comatose body. Ever since he got the darkness inside of him, Roxas has been redirecting it to himself. Every so often, Sora would have to go in and purge Roxas of the growing darkness before it overwhelmed him and Sora, becoming a Possessed.

Sora quickly finished up the district he was in, finding absolutely no Heartless, Nobodies, or Possessed. Everything was calm and tranquil, and if this was a few years ago, Sora would have been complaining. Now, he welcomed the peace. Once the Gummi Ship was repaired, though, he would be sent to Hallow Bastion. He just hoped that everything was okay over there as well.

Reaching the end of his Patrol route, which was near his house, Sora noticed that the priest was gone as well as everyone else. It seemed far too quiet, yet when he investigated the clock tower and the homes, Sora found nothing out of the ordinary other than a few people were out. A dim thought in his mind said that this was bad, but he shrugged it off. Families were allowed to leave their homes, after all. If they didn't turn up after a day or two without notice, then he would be concerned.

Investigating the fountain, he could sense a presence behind it. It wasn't sentient, but it was powerful. In fact, it gave off the same kind of vibe whenever he summoned his Keyblade. It didn't feel dark or corrupt, and that was a good thing, as Sora was one of the few who had the power to unlock it. Sighing, he decided to go back to his room, though.

Walking up the blue stairs to the path that lead to his house, he heard whispering. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't tell who it was from or where it was coming from. The only thing he knew was that they stopped when Sora approached one of the stores up the stairs. Glancing inside, he found it strangely dark. Yet, he felt no dark presence. Still, he summoned his Keyblade and unlocked the door.

His Keyblade was quite different from the ones hanging up in his room, being of the Oblivion model. It was black, somewhat jagged, and had streaks of silver going down the blade. The handle reminded Sora of bat wings, and it had a purple crystal in the center of the hilt. The blade itself drew memories of Riku out of Sora's heart, but he suppressed them for now. There would be time for remembrance later.

Opening the door, Sora's side lit up like it was on fire. Doubling over for a moment, Sora sat down on a diner chair and leaned against the metal table. After a few seconds, the pain subsided to a dull throb. Picking himself back up again, Sora ventured through the retro-looking diner. He found absolutely nothing under the tables or chairs, and he even checked the storage room to find absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.

This let only the kitchen.

Unlocking the door to the kitchen, Sora quietly slipped in, shutting the door silently behind him. Keeping his Keyblade ready, Sora once again couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching him. This time, it wasn't Roxas. It felt dark, sinister, and extremely twisted. Where it was coming from, he had no idea. A slight creak came from behind him and he swirled around to see that the Kitchen door was closing...as if someone had opened it.

Tense, Sora checked everywhere he could. Heck, he even stuck his head into the oven to search for whatever opened the door. Instead, he found nothing. Nothing except darkness. The air seemed cold and dead, and Sora's side once again shot waves of pain all over his body. He knew that his body did this whenever there was a being of immense darkness around him...and if it was doing this now...

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY KITCHEN?" A shrill voice screamed from right behind Sora, who nearly leapt out of his skin. It really was a good idea he had gone to the washroom before.

"S-sorry!" Sora spun around to see an aging woman glaring at him as if he were a Heartless. She held a butcher's knife in her bony hand, and looked about ready to stab him. "Was just on patrol!"

"Oh, it's you Sora." She calmed down and lowered the knife, giving him a grandmother-like smile. "Sorry dearie, I just saw my shop's door open and assumed some punk had broken in for a snack."

"R-right..." Sora tried to catch his breath. His side hurt, but for a completely different reason now. His heart felt like it was trying to burst out of his chest like that alien he saw in a movie the other night.

"Well, I won't keep ya." The woman said, brushing her gray hair out of her eyes. "When your done with your duties, come back and I'll fix ya something nice."

"Thanks..." Sora smiled, his body finally starting to calm down. It was ironic that the last part of his tour was the scariest one...but at least there was no Heartless.

Walking out of the diner, Sora pulled out a phone from his pocket. It was primarily silver, with golden knobs and buttons on it. The screen lit up and he scrolled down to the name 'Terra' and pressed dial. Within a second, Terra had answered.

"Did you find anything?" Terra asked roughly.

"No, was just calling to let you know that I finished my rounds." Sora started to walk to his house, feeling completely wiped out. His bed was sounding very comfortable right about now.

"Nothing over here either..." Terra replied as Sora yawned. "That tired already?" he asked with amusement.

"Yeah...I'm gonna take a nap." Sora laughed back. "Let me know if something comes up, okay?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Terra asked before hanging up.

Smiling, Sora walked back to his home and nearly collapsed as soon as he went into the door. His bed, although not more than a few feet to his left, felt like an entire planet away. Before he headed towards it, though, he stopped by his computer and grabbed his bulky headphones and music player before taking off his overcoat and shit, revealing his fine toned body. A white scar could be seen traveling down his side.

Hopping into bed, he put his headphones on, turned on his music, and drifted off to the deepest parts of his mind...


End file.
